Development of a marketable rice based herbal porridge suitable for diabetics from Scoparia dulcis

doi:10.4236/as.2013.49B014

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Vol.4, No.9B, 81-84 (2013) Agricultural Sci ences

http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/as.2013.49B014

Development of a marketable rice based herbal

porridge suitable for diabetics from Scoparia dulcis

Subhashinie Senadheera, Sagarika Ekanayake*

Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka;

*Corresponding Author: [email protected]

Received July 2013

ABSTRACT

Consumption of herbal leafy porridges is a re-

puted dietary remedy among Sri Lankans in

treating diabetes. The aim of the study was to

develop a rice based herbal porridge [rice: fresh

leaves: scraped coconut kernel 13 - 15: 25 - 30:

10 - 13 (w/w/w)] commercially with Scoparia

dulcis leaves which has proven antidiabetic ef-

fects and low GI (fresh porridge) which benefits

diabetics. Two porridges with the same ingre-

dient ratio were produced with different particle

sizes. Porridge produced with 100% fine par-

ticles (extruded rice, leaves and scraped coco-

nut mixed with rice po wder) elicite d a high GI for

normal (92 ± 22) and diabetic (97 ± 20) subjects.

The second porridge prepared with the mini-

mum amount of extruded rice with other ingre-

dients mixed with boiled and dried intact rice

grains had a medium GI (normal 58 ± 11, diabet-

ics 61 ± 11). A significant reduction (p < 0.05) in

the peak blood glucose was observed in diabetic

subjects for porridge 2 (12.4%) compared to

porridge 1 (0.7%) when compared to glucose.

The reason could be the significantly high (p <

0.05) amount of larger particles (>0.5 mm) (63%)

and minimum amount of extruded fine particles

in porridge 2 compared to porridge 1 (1.3%).

Keywords: Herbal Leafy Porridges; Scoparia dulcis;

Glycaemic Index ; Diabetes

1. INTRODUCTION

Diabetes mellitus is one of the five leading causes of

deaths in the world. According to WHO in year 2011,

220 million people in the world were suffering from di-

abetes and this number will increase up to 366 million by

2030 [1]. Consumption of low glycaemic index (GI)

foods is a dietary modification that is recommended for

diabetic patients by many food and dietetics organiza-

tions. GI indicates the change in blood glucose after con-

sumption of starchy foods. Blood glucose spikes follow-

ing a meal leading to secretion of high insulin is a main

factor for the development of obesity which in turn leads

to diabetes and other non communicable diseases (NCD)

[2]. Low GI foods slow down the rise of postprandial

blood glucose level reducing the insulin secretion when

compared to high GI foods. Many epidemiological stu-

dies have proven the benefits of low GI foods in control-

ling obes i ty and othe r NCDs.

Herbal dietary remedies consumed from ancient times

are still widely used [3] to treat hyperglycemic condi-

tions all over the world. Porridge made with herbal ex-

tracts (Sinhala-ko la kenda) is a unique breakfast food in

Sri Lanka which is made using herbal extracts, coconut

milk and rice. These are more palatable and fulfilling

compared to a water extract of herbs, and are ingested as

a meal. Most of the leaves used for the preparation of

porridge have scientifically proven hypoglycaemic ef-

fects. A previous study with many such porridges proved

that most of these porridges [leaves: scraped coconut

kernel in 25:15:10 (w/w/w) ratio] have low glycaemic

index (GI) values for normal subjects [4]. However, the

low GI in porridges was mainly due to the high water

content and not due to the hypoglycaemic effects of the

leaves as all porridges elicited low GI despite of the

proven anti-diabetic effects of the leaves.

A 3-month study with Streptozotocine (STZ) induced

diabetic Wistar rats and selected low GI porridges eli-

cited a reduction in weight loss, a decrease in HbA1c and

decreased diabetic complications in rats fed with a por-

ridge made of Scoparia dulsic (SD) when compared to a

diabetic control and other porridge fed groups [5]. In addi-

tion, water extracts, infusions (tea) and tablets of Scopa-

ria dulsic are also used by many diabetic patients all over

the world. In today’s world ‘ready to make foods’ are

more popular among the urban population. Thus SD por-

ridge which had low GI and elicited better anti-diabetic

parameters was selected, to be developed as a commer-

S. P. A. S. Senadheera, S. Ekanayake / Agricultural Sciences 4 (2013) 81-84

cial product targeting the diabetic patients. Although the

ingredient ratio of freshly prepared and commercially

produced porridges is similar, the procedure followed in

commercial production included extrusion that may change

the texture of the ingredients which may affect the GI.

Therefore the objective of this study was to estimate the

glycaemic indices of two Scoparia dulsic porridge sam-

ples with the same ingredient ratio as in the fresh, low GI

porridge but produced commercially, incorporating dif-

ferent rice particle sizes, in normal and in diabetic indi-

viduals.

2. METHODOLOGY

Preparation of the extruded meal: Tender leaves of

SD (15 kg), scraped coconut kernel (10 kg) and red rice

[272 6B, Rice Resear ch Institute, Bombuwala, Sri Lanka]

(15kg) were mixed and extruded at 110˚C - 120˚C using

JR 600 Extruder (Instra Por). Extruded meal was dehy-

drated using a hot air dryer (60˚C - 75˚C, 4 - 5 hrs).

Dried meal was ground using a Hammer mill (Particle

size 100% pass through 0.5 mm mesh).

Preparation of porridge 1: Extruded meal prepared

as above and rice powder (boiled and dried rice grain

powder, 100% pass through 0.5 mm mesh) was mixed in

1:1 ratio.

Preparation of porridge 2: Extruded meal prepared

as above and boiled and dried intact rice grains were

mixed in 1:1 ratio.

Digestible carbohydrate content: Digestible carbo-

hydrate content of porridges 1 and 2 were estimated by

modified Holm’s method [6]. Porridge 1 and 2 were

packed separately (40 g) in air tight packets which con-

tained fresh leaves: rice: scraped coconut kernel in 13 -

15: 25 - 30: 10 - 13 (w/w/w) ratio.

Estimation of GI and GL: The GI study was de-

signed as a random crossover study. Glycaemic index of

porridges 1 and 2 were estimated with 10 healthy indi-

viduals (BMI = 18 - 2 5, fa s t ing blood gluc ose level ≤ 110

mg/dl, peak blood glucose level after consuming 25 g of

glucose ≤ 180 mg/dl, not under any medication) and with

10 diabetic patients (FBS > 126 - 300 mg/dl, with no

severe complications) [7].

Volunteers were advised to fast for 8 10 hours and

fasting blood glucose measured. Glucose was used as the

standard reference food. Volunteers were given 25 g of

glucose in 250 ml of water and blood glucose was meas-

ured at 15, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120 minutes after ingestion of

glucose. Additional blood samples at 150 and 180 mi-

nutes were obtained from diabetic patients.

Incremental area under the curve (IAUC) was calcu-

lated using a graph constructed with blood glucose con-

centration vs. time. The above procedure was repeated

twice for every volunteer and the mean IAUC calculated.

Porridges containing 25 g of digestible carbohydrate (1

packet of each porridge) was given to the volunteers on

separate days, after reconstituting the contents in the

packet with 500 ml of water and boiling for 5 minutes in

a closed pan. IAUC was calculated. The percentage ratio

of IAUC for porridge and average IAUC for glucose

were taken as GI for each individual. The GI values of

each volunteer were averaged to obtain the final GI val-

ues.

Glycaemic Load (GL) was estimated by multiplying

the Glycaemic Index by the number of net carbohydrates

in a given serving (25 g) [8].

Particle size distribution of the porridges: Each por-

ridge (1 and 2) was sieved through 0.5 mm, 0.1 mm and

0.05 mm sieve set separately and the percentage portion

on each sieve and the percentage portion sieved through

the final sieve (0.05 mm) were measured.

Ethical approval: Ethical approval was obtained from

the Ethics Review Committee of Faculty of Medical

Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenepura (Approval

No.476/09). Written consent was obtained after explain-

ing the procedure to each volunteer.

Statistical Analysis: Data were analyzed using stu-

dent t test (Microsoft Excel 2007 version).

3. RESULTS

Both porridges had comparable digestible carbohydrate

contents (68%) which were similar to the freeze dried

fresh porridge. GI values of porridges 1 and 2 for normal

and diabetics are stated in Table 1. Porridge 1 elicited

high GI in both normal and diabetic individuals. Howev-

er, porridge 2 elicited medium GI for both normal and

diabetic individuals. Porridge 1 had a high GL while por-

ridge 2 had a medium GL for bot h no rmal and dia be tics.

The glycaemic responses of porridge 1 and porridge 2

in normal and diabetic subjects are given in Figures 1

and 2 respectively. A significant reduction (p < 0.05) in

the peak blood glucose was observed in diabetic subjects

for porridge 2 (12.4%) compared to porridge 1 (0.7%)

when compared to glucose.

The particle size distribution of porridges 1 and 2 are

stated in Table 2. Porridge 2 had a significantly high (p <

0.05) amount of larger particles (>0.5 mm) (63%) com-

pared to porridge 1 (1.3%). The amount of particles smaller

than 0.05 mm in porridge 1 was twice the amount in po r-

ridge 2.

Table 1. GI values of porridges for normal and diabetic indi-

viduals.

Porridge 1 Porridge 2

Normal

Diabetic

Normal

Diabetic

92 ± 22

97 ± 20

58 ± 11

61 ± 11

23 ± 6

24 ± 5

14 ± 3

15 ± 3

N = 10.

S. P. A. S. Senadheera, S. Ekanayake / Agr icultural Sciences 4 (2013) 81-84

Figure 1. Glycaemic responses of normal and diabetic individ-

uals for porridge 1 (each value represents an average of 10).

Figure 2. Glycaemic responses of normal and

diabetic individuals for porridge 2 (each value

represents an average of 10).

Table 2. Particle size distribution of porridges (n = 3).

Porridge 1 Porridge 2

0.5 mm 1.3% 63%

0.5 - 0.1 mm 14% 0%

0.1 - 0.05 mm 63.3% 24.6%

0.05 mm 20.1% 10.2%

4. DISCUSSION

Although the ingredients used for the previous study

in estimating the GI [4] and for the present study were

comparable, in the commercial production process por-

ridge ingredients were extruded. The GI of the commer-

cial porridge 1 with 100% fine particles (extruded par-

ticles + rice powder) elicited a remarkably high GI than

the fresh porridge (39 ± 25) used for the previous study.

Since the only difference was extrusion which required

rice powder and as data reports the effect of particle size

of starch based foods on GI [9], minimum amount of rice

powder was incorporated in to porridge 2 to retain the

palatability and texture, during extrusion procedure. To

obtain a similar amount of digestible carbohydrate as in

porridge 1, boiled and dried rice grains were incorpo-

rated in to porridge 2. This elicited a medium GI for both

normal and diabetic individuals. This lowering of GI and

the reduction in peak blood glucose percentage compared

to glucose were more apparent in diabetics than normal

individuals indicating the suitability of the porridge 2 on

diabetics. This also showed that extrusion procedure gives

rise to high glycaemic response.

Since the only difference between the two porridges

was the rice particle size, the particle size distribution

was analyzed. The medium GI value obtained for por-

ridge 2 with higher particle size d is tr ibution, compared to

high GI of porridge 1 revealed that particle size of a food

is a key factor in controlling the glycaemic response thus

the GI. Av ailabil ity of high surface area for enzyme access

might increase the digestibility of foods with fine par-

ticles thus increasing the GI. In addition, the high tem-

peratures and pressure the rice grains subjected to during

processing may cause gelatinization and cell/starch gra-

nule rupture releasing the constituents making these more

accessible to enzymatic digestion. These could have con-

tributed for not obtaining the low GI value elicited with

freshly made porridge with 100% intact rice grains. How-

ever, since during commercial pr oduc tion additio n of rice

powder could not be avoided during the extrusion pro-

cedure the adjustment made by using minimum rice

powder and rice grains have paved the way to reduce the

GI to a medium.

5. CONCLUSION

Porridge of Scoparia dulcis made incorporating rice

grains as in porridge 2 elicits medium GI and medium

GL values in normal as well as in diabetics. Therefore

porridge produced as porridge 2 is a suitable breakfast

food for diabetics which elicits high satiety and hypog-

lycaemic effects when consumed frequently. This study

also proves that porridge with intact rice grains is better

for diabetics than powdered p orridge.

6. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The financial support by ASP/06/PR/2010/12 and PhD/08/2012

grants of University of Sri Jayewardenepura and support provided by

Plenty Foods (Pvt) Ltd., Sri Lanka in prod ucing porridge commerciall y

are gratefully acknowledged.

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